Youtube Stream mobile app turns video searches into playlists

Youtube Stream is a free app for iPhone and Android that takes a YouTube search, and then loads and plays the results continuously in a playlist.

YStream (its icon name) will also search Dailymotion or even the videos stored in your iOS or Android device. It scrolls through a video’s comments across the top or bottom of the window as it plays. Fortunately, this can can be turned off, as it can be a bit irritating when the comments are in a non-native language.

You can “thumbs up or down” the video and share it on Facebook or Twitter. You can also play along with a simulated drum or guitar in “Session” mode, or use the video as an alarm.

The app’s real value lies in its ability to complement iPhone and Android’s native YouTube applications. While the native apps are obviously well-designed, they lack YStream’s central feature: the ability to play search results back-to-back like a playlist. The great design of the native YouTube apps, however, is exactly what YStream is missing.

Its black and white color scheme is simply too dated and austere, and the advertisement on the bottom of the screen can become distracting. The app is free, so the fact that it’s ad-supported isn’t the issue, but it’s placement and size has much to be desired (see second screenshot). Also, the features are not consolidated in an easy-to-navigate fashion, but instead scattered across the UI. In my testing on an iPhone 4, I found the app to be somewhat buggy and have lag issues, especially when using 3G (as opposed to Wi-Fi).

Despite a few flaws, YStream has some great features and still serves a distinct and useful purpose: to serve as a compliment to the official YouTube apps. Download it for free on the Android Market and [itunes link=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/youtube-stream/id384383425?mt=8&uo=4″ title=”App Store” text=”App Store”].